Monroe Da Ends Case In Child's Seat-belt Death

Monroe County's new district attorney, Jim Gregor, has decided not to prosecute a Tobyhanna man for the death of his 4-year-old daughter, who fell out of his car while not wearing a seat belt.

On Dec. 8, 1990, Angelo A. Sergi was driving on Route 611 in Pocono Township when he made an illegal U-turn, police said. His daughter, Theresa, was leaning against a faulty passenger door and fell out of the car. Moments later, Theresa was fatally struck by a pickup truck along the dark highway.

Sergi had been charged with criminal homicide by motor vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and a number of motor vehicle violations. All charges have been dismissed.

"I think he's suffered enough," Gregor said.

Gregor said motorists along Route 611 saw the girl stand up and walk a few steps before she was struck by the truck. Gregor said those accounts showed that the girl was not seriously injured when she fell out of the car. Thus, Gregor said, her father was not directly responsible for her death and should not be prosecuted.

"Theresa Sergi died as a result of the injuries she sustained upon being struck by the pickup truck, not as a result of any of the alleged wrongful acts of the defendant," Gregor wrote in a petition to dismiss charges. Monroe County President Judge James R. Marsh yesterday approved the petition.

Also, Gregor said, the pickup truck driver is not criminally responsible for the girl's death. He did not see her until it was too late.

"It's just a horrible set of circumstances, that's what it is," Gregor said.

Former Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine, who lost to Gregor in the November election, said yesterday the circumstances showed that Sergi was grossly negligent and responsible for his daughter's death. He blasted Gregor's decision not to prosecute.

"To allow a child's death to go unanswered is despicable," Christine said.

Christine said the chain of events -- not fastening the child with a seat belt, allowing her to lean against a faulty door and making an illegal U-turn -- directly led to the girl's death. And it was Sergi's negligence that caused the chain of events, he said.

Sergi's attorney, Robert Rosenblum, had argued that the state's seat belt law could not used to charge someone with criminal homicide by motor vehicle. He added that there was no evidence it was Sergi's negligence that resulted in his daughter's death.

Gregor agreed that the seat belt law could not be applied to a homicide by motor charge. He also said Christine's theory on the chain of events would not prove gross negligence, because there is a stricter standard applied in criminal cases than in civil cases.

The Monroe County case was one of a few cases in the country in which a parent was charged with the death of a child who was not wearing a seat belt during an accident. Last May, a Florida man was acquitted of homicide by motor vehicle charges for the death of his young daughter. In 1990, a California man was charged with his young son's death, but charges were dropped after the case drew much publicity.

Christine said the Monroe County case was unique because the victim was killed after she fell from the car.

In the Sergi case, he said, the victim would have been spared if she were wearing a seat belt.